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St. Brendan’s College, Belmullet, Co. Mayo

As I Look Back

I sit there at the bar,
As the lump behind it pours another whiskey.
I admire it, peaceful, still, so small less than a glass half full
Or in my case a glass half empty.
An entire life described in a six-inch glass.
SUCCEED, SUCCEED, SUCCEED…
I told myself as I sat at the top of every class.
A life wasted in books and paper
Made from trees with more life and soul than I.
Why couldn’t I realise that life is not graded like my tests,
But felt and experienced through the body and soul,
There is no end goal
There is no beaten path
But here I am at 91 years old,
Without even living one.

Anthony Walsh

Knock Yourself Out

Now you can knock yourself out
Like you’re boxing yourself.
You will lose yourself,
As I lost myself.
Live in thy peace,
As for myself,
When I am bruised inside.
From every loss,
One silly cross,
I’ve taken all this pain,
Without any gain,
Where are my five minutes of fame.

Jack Gibbons

TY Talk

As I sit here in this here TY talk,
I look out the window and begin to gawk.
I begin to the wonder,
What’s the point on being here.
Then I begin to talk to my peers.
As we talk,
We think about the idea of going for some beers,
As I sit there I hear a knock,
And who is it but the clock announcing its 12 o clock.

Adam Walker

The Curse

On the 17th September 2017,
Mayo had another heart-breaking year.
Dublin and Mayo played an amazing 78-minute game.
A crowd of 82,000 came to support the teams.
Dublin won its 3rd year in a row and received the Sam Maguire.
The final score at the end of the game was 1-17 – 1-16.
1 point they lose by again.
They live on for another year in sorrow.
Hopefully 2018 will break the curse.

Jayne Farrell

Everybody’s Fate

Matthew, Michael, Luke and John,
Kneeling and praying from dusk till dawn.
Although God may not be who he seems,
They continue to pray,
Because atheism is obscene.
When they come to their unfortunate demise,
That’s the day that they will unfortunately realise.
That no matter how much you pray,
Everybody dies.

Ethan Healy

Now I Believe

As Dean Rock kicked the ball over the bar,
I started to believe in Mayo’s curse.
I had always thought it was rubbish
But I now truly believe that there is a curse.

Conn Sullivan

Education

The morning bell goes off,
I walk into my first class.
What are we doing this morning?
We’re learning about maths.
Our most common class of the week
And also, the most boring.
They expect us to be energetic,
But this stuff has me snoring.
Can someone please explain to me
The logic of sitting kids in a class for 7 hours,
5 times a week.
Having them pay for food with only a small break to eat
And especially considering I can barely get any sleep.
They consider us “just kids”
When our brains go just as deep.
Yet the minute we open up,
The world considers us weak.
Before we start school is when our creativity it at its peak,
Yet by the time we finish school
All of that creativity has seeped through the cracks,
And the transformation is complete,
From brains with ideas to ones made of crabmeat.

John Linehan

Oluwaseyi Babajide Ojo

He’s from Africa, but not from Togo
His family is from Nigeria,
He’s cold like the air in Siberia.
He plays on the wing
His pace is a mad ting
Oluwaseyi Babajide Ojo
Unlike Austin Powers,
He has got his mojo.

Éamonn Munnelly

Sam Maguire

Nothing these days seem to come easy
Mayo were defeated yet again by the Dubs,
1 point down at full-time.
Everyone leaving the field with broken hearts.
Another time not bringing Sam Maguire back to Mayo,
But crowds still attended the homecoming.

Michaela Gallagher

Feeling like Butter

Making toast with a tub of butter.
Realising too much butter has been used.
Scraping the leftover butter on the side of the tub.
Promising that you would use it the next time you make toast.
The next day comes.
You look at the crumby butter in disgust.
Slice after slice, new butter is used.
The crumby butter hangs quietly hoping
Until the day the only butter left is the crumby butter,
Feeling special for one last time.
The crumby butter melting.
On your scone.
On you toast.
On your heart.

Ciara Hurst

The Sesh

My first night out was a disaster to say,
Getting lost along the way.
I was drunk and didn’t know the way,
It was my fault at the end of the day.
Let’s pray I will know the way
And stay away the next day.

Bethany Gaughan

Learn

Roses aren’t always red
Violets aren’t always blue
The school life isn’t always
The life for you

Mayo for Sam 2018

So we’ll be back again next year
Stronger, better, without any fear
Sam will return home in 2018
And we’ll be there supporting in our red and green

Anon

Sam

Sam will come our way
Another 3rd Sunday, ended in tears
We’ve been waiting of 66 years
But hope will not go, and pride will stay
For we all know one day
Sam will come our way

And when the cup is lifted
And the green and red rise
We’ll think of the heartache, laughter and joy
For it was the journey we had to take
For the day, Sam would come our way.

Áine McGoingle

Unlucky

What a game was in store
Mayo came through the back door
The players tried to set up a goal
It wasn’t going to be a stroll
We were unlucky
It’s not even funny
Next year will be our year
Mayo will be the team to fear

Emma McIntyre

The Grass is Green

Chris Barrett, rock at the back
Stopping Dublin’s every attack
The Dirty Dubs fill the hill
Colm Boyle out for the kill

Tom Parson catching balls from the sky
6ft4 Brian Fenton looks like he’s high
Jack McCaffrey, really quick
But Aiden O’Shea built like a brick

If we win we’ll be swamping down the brandy
Only if we give the ball to Andy
Sam will be back in Ballaghadreen
Stone walls and the grass is green

BRAVE NEW WORDS

Every month our Brave New Words blog features submissions received from students who’ve participated in our workshops. Every year Inspireland delivers creative writing and poetry slam workshops to over 6,000 students throughout Ireland.